Hazy
by Allana2112
Summary: Rin is finally of age. She can choice her path in life; to live with humans or return to Lord Sesshomaru. Guess which ones she picks? But what if Sesshomaru has a different plan for Rin? New Story I'm trying to work on. First time writing Rin/Sesshomaru. Do you think I should keep going?
1. Chapter 1 Songs

Don't own anything but what's mine. Yep.

I edited a little and added, let me know plot wise. I will have another set of eyes on it as I go to help me edit. I will try to do weekly updates, bi-weekly at worst. Enjoy.

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Chapter 1 - Songs

The morning air stirred her before the others. Rin blinked and fought the drowsiness as she realized that she had slept and the day was now upon her. Her 17th birthday. She got up and softly made her way out of the hut trying not to wake old Kaeda as she gathered some things. She quickly walked out of the village towards the river and across the bridge into InuYasha's forest. As Rin entered into the forest the light of the first morning raise broke and slowly rose to meet the tree line and spill onto the dew covered grass under her bare feet. Her breath was visible on the cold morning air but that did little to discourage Rin. She kept her pace until she came upon the small pool of water that connected the river to a waterfall but held no current that would wash her away. She eagerly disrobed and jumped into the water. She had to be clean and proper for today. The cold water caused her to curl in on herself under the surface, the frigidness bringing her nerve ends to life and started her blood really pumping, but soon her body became accustomed to the temperature and she resurfaced with a happy gasp for air. She giggled and turned for her things to retrieve her soaps and perfumes she had kept for this special day. The day that he would come and let her return with him. She lathered up the soap and greedily applied it to her hair, making sure she scrubbed away all of her childishness along with it. Today she was a woman. Thinking of him brought a small smile to her lips and as she scrubbed she began singing to herself softly.

"Oh Lord Sesshomaru when will you return for me; my loving Lord will return and take me and we will be together for all eternity. "

She laughed at herself, recalling her silly songs from her childhood and how master Jaken would scold her for "such nonsense" but A-Un seemed to enjoy it. And her Lord never complained and that to her was all the encouragement she needed to continue back then.

With a flourish she gulped in air and surmised herself in the water again to rinse her hair. She let the waters soft swirls undo all the suds she had created and wash her hair clean. She re emerged and with balled fist she rubbed the water from her eyes and then ran her fingers through her hair to remove it from her face. All these years Rin had kept the similar hairstyle she had always had, enjoying her bangs being partly in a bun but as the time passed, she had allowed her hair to grow longer than most women in the village did and so she wear it in a tight bun at the nape of her neck as it was inconvenient to have hair so long but Rin didn't care. She thought of Lord Sesshomaru's long mane and softly stroked the length of her hair 'til her fingers fell just below her butt. A small part of Rin hoped he would find it flattering. With the remaining soap she washed her body carefully. Enjoying the feeling of the slick soap over her skin and the smell of the perfume as she worked. She wondered if all her work would please Lord Sesshomaru. He had started to visit less and less over the years. Going from sporadic and multiple to more steady but fewer. The last 2 years she only saw him on her birthday. And now that she was of proper age she could return to him. It wasn't that she despised being with humans. Kaeda and the others had made living in the village tolerable, tho it was rare that she wandered far without some form of an escort. Today was different. She had to prepare and she would not be turned down or forced to wait any longer. She had already waited 6 years to be back with Lord sesshomaru. Wasn't that long enough?

After washing every inch of herself, even the spaces between her toes, Rin made her way towards the small pile of clothes she had left on a nearby rock. She shook herself off and ran out her hair as best she could, not wanting to get the fine clothes she had wet. Slowly she dressed herself in her underclothes and put on some wooden sandals that she had kept but never wore until today, today was not a day for dirty feet. Finally she put on the outer robe, a pink silk kimono with yellow and gold butterflies stitched on to it that Lord Sesshomaru had given her for her last birthday. She had some trouble with the sash to tie the garment closed and was about to give up and just return to the village with it tied wrong and have Miss Sango fix it before Lord Sesshomaru showed up when a voice called out to her.

"Miss Rin, what are you doing out here in the demon filled forest? This is no place for a young beautiful maiden such as yourself." The voice grated at her nerves and a small part of Rin wanted to run and not look back at the owner of the voice. Slowly Rin turned with a downward castes face to the rich warlord Kinsum. Her gaze slowly rose to take in his more casual appearance of a samurai robe instead of his usual dark armor and helmet. The color of the robe was off. It was a pale blue and was too youthful for the 40 some year old man. His paling brown hair was long enough to be pulled back into a short ponytail high up at the back of his head. This attempt of youth was not very effective as it was causing his small dull eyes, which were too far apart to begin with, to look constantly surprised and made his piggish nose even more pronounced than it already was set strangling against his wiry mustache.

"Warlord Kinsum, I did not know you had returned to the village so soon." Rin inquired politely as she turned and began winding her hair so she could bun it and be on her way.

"Please miss Rin, Lord Kinsum is fine enough." Rin internally resisted the urge to gag. A part of her wanted to yell at him that she only recognized one lord and Kinsum was not that lord.

She smiled a little too sweetly and said, "What brings you to the river so early in the morning, Warlord Kinsum?" He made a face at her obvious use if his title but quickly recovered.

"I heard some men talk of seeing a beautiful spirit or spirit in the forest this morning and I came to see what manner of being could be given such a high praise. I should have known it was you."

He had taken some steps towards Rin as he spoke and smiled greedily and almost lecherously at her at the end.

Rin bowed her head as if she were embarrassed but only did so to cover up the fact she was rolling her eyes. She took a cautious side step to collect her discarded sleeping clothes and bring herself further from the man. "I came to bath and purify myself for today."

He took a step towards her in response. "And what is so special about today?" He again inclined his head in her direction and his fingers began to twitch, as if he wanted to reach out and touch her.

Rin thought crudely to herself 'It is none of your business.' "It's my birthday," Rin responded softly.

Kinsum clapped his hands together and grew closer still to Rin. "My, that's wonderful! Miss Rin is finally a grown woman it would seem."

Rin had collected her things and was turning to leave the old man behind her when he finally placed his hand on her shoulder to turn her around. Rin's eyes grew large as she heard a scream rip through the forest, echoing all the way back the village. It took a moment for Rin to realize the sound had come from her. She turned to see Warlord Kinsum with his hands raised in surrender and confusion in front of him, like he was sure, at any moment, Rin would hit him. His eyes were screwed shut, causing his forehead to wrinkle. She took the moments confusion to make her way towards the trees. She walked quickly but did not run, for fear of falling in her new shoes and ruining her kimono.

After some minutes Rin turned to look behind her to see if Kinsum was following. She was relieved to see that he was not, or if he was, he was lost in the foreign forest he never entered.

Some time back the warlord had arrived in the village to defeat the "evil and terribly strong dog demon InuYasha" that was rumored to have this village under his merciless reign. What he found was not the half demon but his wife, Lady Kagome, giving the warlord an ear full in her husband's absence as he was away with the Lord Monk Miroku on an exorcism to make some money for the village. Kagome did her best to convince the war lord that his concerns were unnecessary as she tried to not let her early pregnancy alert the warlord of how well demons and humans got along in this village. A rarity that left many men in power wanting to destroy the village. The foreign idea being too much for them and the instinct to fight change consume them. The day almost ended in a fight as lady Kaeda and Rin returned from collecting herbs for Kagomes morning sickness. The old priestess did all she could to end the conversation but it ended up being Rins presence that caught the old warlords attention. He decided the point was moot as the hour was late and requested lodging until the next day to attack. That was 6 months ago. In that time Kistum had come and gone and slowly seemed to be building a home for himself in the village, all to woo Rin, it seemed. He had proposed many time within the last months but was always rejected yet he never left.

Her breath was quick despite her slower than normal pace and Rin felt a twinge of guilt at the effect her scream had had on the old man. But also, she was upset at herself for still having some small unknown fear of older human men. She had thought she was better. She never feared Miroku or InuYasha. And she had never feared the buffoon of a warlord before, but when he had placed his hand on her shoulder, her mind went blank for a second and her instincts took over.

Rin was worried what effect this information would have on her life in the village. If she tripped and someone helped her would she scream at them too? If one of the older men with sore backs or limbs came for herbs she had picked would she run away from them? It was almost comical, the idea of a 16 year old girl being afraid of an elderly man. No, 17 year old woman. At the reminder of her new age Rin grew calm. She didn't have to worry what life in the village would be like now. She would soon be with Lord Sesshomaru and all would be as it should be. With this thought in mind, Rin unconsciously started her soft singing and smiled as she made her way back to Kaeda's hut.

/:/

Meanwhile, as the same day began on a dirt path headed in the opposite direction of Kaede's village.

"Milord?"

Cold gold eyes turned to acknowledge his servants voice.

"I thought I should remind you, Milord, that today is Rin's birthday." At the silence, he blathered on, "She will probably be expecting us to visit her at some point today."

As the eyes narrowed he sputtered and continued with a "Not that you forgot her birthday!" and a "Or that her birthday even matters! Marking the passage of time of a human's short life span seems idiotic, wouldn't you say, Milord?" and with a nervous chuckle Jaken was relieved of his staff of the two heads and severely beaten with it before his master dropped the stick and continued his walk towards a small castle in the north. There Sesshomaru hoped to find the perfect gift for Rin's birthday.


	2. Chapter 2 Listen

I hope this goes over well. Please review.

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Chapter 2 - Listen

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Rin arrived at the hut as the neighboring huts began to stir. She peeked in to find Kaeda still sleeping. She considered waking her but decided there was no need. Kagome helped Kaeda more now-a-days despite InuYasha's complaints. His arguments always fell flat when Kagome pointed out that Kaeda was getting too old to walk all the way into the forest and bend down and collect herbs on her hands and knees. He would point at her stomach that was now very visible in her priestess robes but Kagome would always retort with how many women worked well until they gave birth, some even squat in the field to give birth. At this InuYasha would bark something stupid that would be rewarded with a 'sit-boy" usually and that was the end of the argument.

"Rini!"

Rin turned in time to catch a small boy with dark black hair as he threw himself into her arms. Rin stumbled back and almost fell, her sense of being grounded thrown off by her shoes. Dark blue eyes looked up at her with a sleepy smile. Rin smiled back as she adjusted the child in her arms to rest on her hip. "Good morning Mitsuo."

"Morning Rini."

"It's Rin!" came another voice. Both looked up to see another small boy. This one with lighter brown hair, but the same blue eyes; looking both pouty and smug at the same time.

"I don't mind Kenichi." Rin said as she walked towards the boy. His pout grew larger and he crossed his arms over his chest and turned away. A habit he had seemed to learn from InuYasha. Rin tilted her head to the side and looked at him with a soft smile, "You can call me 'Rini' too if you want to Kenichi." At this the boy blushed softly and turned even more and verbally scoffed at her. Rin giggled and Mitsuo giggled with her as she continued towards the hut that the boys had emerged from.

As Rin lifted the flap to the entrance she was met with a soft cheap of a pur from Kirara who had been waiting next to the door, making sure the boys didn't go too far on their own. The sight in front of Rin made her blush and turn away. She should have been use to it by now. 8 kids in 6 years was obvious enough of how Miroku and Sango felt about each other but to catch Miroku on top of Sango in a passionate morning kiss was a little too much confirmation. Without batting an eyelash Mitsuo chimed in with a, "Mamma's being squeeshed!" The cry caused the two to surface for air and they saw Rin in their doorway with two of their sons.

"Oh my!" Sango blushed and pushed Miroku off of her as she collected herself and tried to compose herself.

Miroku only grinned like a stupid idiot but did have the decency to look slightly guiltily at Rin for having to witness that. "Sorry Rin."

"It's my fault. I should have, before I entered, knocked or something." She stammered as she placed Mitsou down and he ran to his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Her embarrassment vanished with her son in her arms.

"You're up early." Miroku said as he softly made his way towards Rin, trying not to wake his other children as he went.

"I didn't want the day to get away from me." Rin said slyly, waiting to see if he would remember.

Miroku finally seemed to notice Rin's clothes and shoes and the fact that she was clean. "Why all dressed up?"

With a dejected sigh she turned towards Kirara and said, "No one remembers, do they?" To which the demon cat meowed at her.

Miroku made a face and turned to his wife for help. Sango looked thoughtful for a second as Kenichi joined his brother on her lap when she finally had it. "It's your birthday."

"Of course! How could I have forgotten. Please forgive me Rin! Happy Birthday." He said with a smile.

Rin smiled eagerly at them and clapped her hands behind her, "Thank you. I actually came to see if Miss Sango could help me tie my sash. I want to look perfect today, for when Lord Sesshomaru comes."

"How do you know Sesshomaru is coming for a visit?" Miroku asked, inserting his foot into his mouth.

"Because he always comes on her birthday." Sango answered as she stood to walk towards Rin, pinching her husband's arm as she passed him. "And of course I will help you." She smiled sweetly at the girl.

Rin stood with her arms raised outstretched to her sides and tried not to move as Sango fixed what Rin had done wrong. As Sango worked, Miroku began making breakfast and waking the rest of the children, starting with the oldest. The 6 year old twins girls, Miu and Mizuki woke with some difficulty and sleepy eyes. 5 year old Satoru rubbed his dark brown eyes. As he crawled out of bed Rin could see that his light brown hair was tousled about as if an animal had come into the hut in his sleep and sucked on his head to cause his hair to stand up. Satoru drooled even after he was convinced to sit up with his sisters. Kenichi, the begrudging 4 year old took his place next to his older brother, and dragged 3 year old Mitsuo along with, despite his desire to join his mother and Rin. Miroku kissed the small dark haired heads of Suzu and Saki to wake the 2 year old toddlers up. It seemed that twins run in Sango's family. The only one left sleeping was the soon to be 1 year old Aki, who slept soundly in a straw woven crib next to Sango and Miroku's bed. Sango explained that Aki had started teething and he had been up half the night fussy over it. Letting him sleep til the pain in his gums woke him again seemed a good idea to Miroku.

As the children finally seemed to gain full consciousness they started talking to their father about their dreams and what they wanted to do that day, each trying to be heard over the other. But Miroku missed nothing and answered each one in turn.

Sango was finished with Rin and invited her to eat with them but she excused herself to wake Kaeda. The children all asked Rin to play later and she half heartedly agreed, wondering if Lord Sesshomaru would have arrived by then or not.

Rin made her way to Kaeda's hut to find her awake and already beginning her day. Rin set to work helping her separate and mix herbs being very careful as she worked to not get her kimono dirty. Kaeda did not ask about Rin's appearance but then she didn't have to. Kaeda had become used to Rin's mind and her thoughts over the last 6 years and if there was one thing she knew it was that everything Rin did, was for Sesshomaru.

While she worked Rin wondered again how long it would take for Lord Sesshomaru to arrive. she prayed she would not be forced to wait too much longer. She missed him so much that it seemed to consume her. Now that the idea of her re-joining him was so close she couldn't seem to stand being out of his presence anymore.

Once Rin was done with a few mixed potions she set to cooking breakfast for -

"You really should be lying down Kagome." InuYasha's voice carried in from behind Kagome as she entered the house. Her hand rested on her round growing stomach absentmindedly as she made her way towards Rin's work to see if there was anything left that she could help her with. "I could have brought you your food. You didn't have to come here."

"InuYasha, will ye stop barking. It is too early for such excitement." Kaeda chided at the man as she in turn handed Kagome some of her unmixed herbs.

"Thank you Kaeda. It's been like this for almost an hour. He almost didn't let me get dressed! That's how much he wanted me to stay in bed."

Rin blushed and giggled. After her earlier encounter with Miroku and Sango it was hard not to imagine the scenario. Kagome looked slightly pink as the double standard of her statement sunk in and InuYasha was practically the same shade of red as his robs. Thankfully Kaeda seemed to miss the joke or choice not to react and so no one actually made a comment. InuYasha instead sat and pouted against the wall while the women quietly worked in the morning air. Rin enjoyed this morning ritual. she and Kaeda would begin the preparations and then Kagome would either help or start cooking if Rin hadn't started already. they would sit in a small circle while InuYasha moaned and or doze until he finally left the women to their work and did whatever he felt needed to be done in his forest. After enough time had passed Kagome cleared her throat and said "Happy birthday Rin. You must be so excited. I love your kimono. It's so pretty and it really suits you."

Rin smiled at her, "Thank you Miss Kagome. It means a lot to me that it looks good. Miss Sango helped me tie it. And I took care in walking through the forest in it."

"That's we're ye was? By ye self?" Kaeda stopped working and seemed to really see Rin for the first time that day.

" I was fine. It was early so I thought no one would follow me. Tho I was followed by that Warlord Kitsume but he only showed up as I was leaving." Kagome and Kaeda exchanged a look Rin knew well enough by now. She cut them off before either could start. "I couldn't wait for someone to take me. I had to bath and get ready for Lord Sesshomaru . I didn't want to risk him seeing me dirty."

InuYasha made a noise in the back of his throat. "Ain't nothing he hasn't seen. You were a scrawny street urchin when he met you. You don't have to go get all pretty for him. Not like he would notice anyway."

"InuYasha." Kagome's voice held a warning tone. InuYasha's ears flattened against his head.

Rin ducked her head, hoping that her bangs would hide her blush as to how much his words hit her. "I don't care . I just, wanted to feel 17. Grown and pretty for him."

Kagome leaned towards Rin and rested her hand on her shoulder. " I understand and feeling that way is normal when you love someone . Don't ever feel stupid for acting in honor of love." The two shared a secret smile. Rin love how Kagome always knew how to sooth her, like an elder sister. She also took comfort in the fact that they both loved and choice demons for companions. Even in their relaxed village, it was rare to find women such as Kagome to see eye to eye with.

InuYasha 'keh'ed but said nothing more. Rin served the reheated stew to Kaeda and Kagome first. She stood to served InuYasha and he eyed her through half closed eyes, trying to look unimpressed. The expression struck a cord in Rin's mind.

_Cold gold eyes looked at her from his place leaning against the giant tree. He was aware of her presence but choice to ignore it as she approached him. In her hands she held a fish spread across a leaf. She knelt down to give him the fish but he didn't motion to take it. She finally put the leaf down within his reach and turned to leave when he spoke. "I do not need food." She turned to look at him. "Mind your own business. I don't eat what humans eat." He had closed his eyes but other than that he had not moved. The next time she brought him food it was less, only berries and mushrooms, because she had been caught stealing the fish and had been beaten for it. Again he refused to eat with a simple "No need. I told you I don't need anything." She still left the food but this time when she went to leave he questioned her. "What's with those bruises on your face?" She turned and just stared at him in wonder. "If you don't want to talk thats fine." His inquiry about her injury sparked an emotion in her that had not been felt in almost a year. Her cheeks raised, forcing her healthy eye to close as well as her swollen eye to shut tighter. Her lips stretched and cracked to be pulled taut over her teeth. "What're you smiling about? I only asked a question." Smiling. She had forgotten what this expression felt like. She was happy and smiling because of this man. At that moment she knew she would follow this man to the end of the Earth._

"Hey, you ok kid?" The gruff voice broke Rin from her thoughts. InuYasha looked at her full on now with open curiosity. It was nice how easy it was to read the emotions on his face. Rin nodded and handed the bowl to him. He gingerly took it and nodded his thanks as she turned to go retrieve her own food.

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The rest of the morning proceeded without incident. Rin was allowed to play with Sango and Miroku's children instead of doing her daily chores, so she would not get her dress dirty. InuYasha ended up doing most of the chores because he refused to let Kagome do them and Kagome refused to let Kaeda do them. Rin balanced Aki on her knee as Sango did laundry with the help of her eldest daughters Miu and Mizuki. The rest of the children played make believe games in the grass, pretending to be hunting demons or that they were the demons being hunted. All in all Rin's birthday was turning out to be a wonderfully calm day.

A loud roar rang out from the tree line. The children stopped and looked towards the noise. Sango was about to call out to them when Rin bolted up and ran towards her to give her Aki. Sango looked confused as Rin headed towards the noise. She stopped at the edge of the hill with the children and looked down. Holding her hands in front of her like she was praying. The roar came again and A-Un was visible over the tree line. On his back was master Jaken and another body. Rin wondered if it was Lord Sesshomaru but then she saw a flash of blue light strike in front of the dragon creature and landed at the bottom of the hill near the river. The light grew and Rin saw as Lord Sesshomaru stood where the light had been moments before. Without thinking she ran towards him and was about to throw her arms out to hug him when she almost tripped. She caught herself and bent forward with her hands resting on her knees. She looked up and saw Sesshomaru looking down at her with the usual indifference. she righted herself and swiped her bangs out of her eyes. she smiled up at him and said, "Good day Lord Sesshomaru. I'm so happy you came to see me."

"Happy Birthday Rin." His soft voice almost purred at her but his expression gave nothing away. He looked up and down at her and added. "You look lovely today."

She blushed and thought her heart would stop beating. She just stood there smiling at him. Luckily A-Un had arrived and master Jaken interrupted them.

"I say Rin, you are a lady now. You shouldn't go running down hills like that. What would you have done if you had fallen and got hurt? Or ruined that kimono that Lord Sesshomaru had given you? Don't be so disrespectful."

"Nice to see you too master Jaken." Rin beamed down at the small green imp creature, ignoring most of what he said. "I was just so excited about seeing Lord Sesshomaru that I couldn't wait."

Sesshomaru made no comment on the matter. To any who spectators he would seem bored but to Rin he just seemed slightly content with the small banter. Rin seemed to finally take notice of movement off to the side and turned to greet A-Un. She was caught off guard by the young man who climbed off the dragon and started walking towards their small group. He wore fine white robes with red trim and soft gold embroidered around the hemline. He had delicate features that almost made him seem feminine, his height and shoulders were really only the things that gave his gender away. Rin turned to look at Lord Sesshomaru questioningly. Sesshomaru raised his right hand and motioned for the man to come closer.

"Rin, this is Kyo. His father is a Lord of the Northern territories. He is the first born and heir to his father's legacy. He shall be your husband."

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:p I'm such a naughty thing. Sorry for the cliffhanger.


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